Keyboard



(No Model.) R.- HENSLEY.

' KEYBOARD.

No. 550,172. Patented Nov 19,1895.

A ITOH/VEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD HENSLEY, oF SALEM, OREGON.

KEYBOARD.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 550,172, dated November 19, 1895.

Application filed May 14,1895. Serial No. 549,314. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, RICHARD HENSLEY, of Salem, in the county of Marion and State of Oregon, have invented a new and Improved Keyboard, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved keyboard, which is simple and durable in construction, very effective in operation, and more especially designed for holding and securing keys and other like articles in asylums, prisons, hotels, and other places where it is necessary to hang up such articles to be secure and which can only be removed by the party having the proper release-key.

The invention also consists of a curved hook pivoted at its lower end to a face-plate and adapted to engage a look at its upper hook end, the said hook when released by the lock swinging by its own gravity into such an open position as to retain the key or other article suspended from the hook.

The invention also consists of certain parts and details and combinations of the same, as will be fully described hereinafter, and then pointed out in the claim.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improvement as arranged with two hooks. Fig. 2 is a sectional rear View of the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the same on the line 3 3 in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the improvement as arranged with a single hook.- Fig. 5 is a sectional rear view of the same, and Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the release-key. I

The improved keyboard is provided with a face-plate A, formed at its front face with lugs B, in each pair of which is pivoted the lower end of a hook G, on which the key or other article is to be hung. The upper end of the hook O is formed with a bevel and a notch adapted to engage a boltD,forming part of a lockE, of any approved construction, and held on the rear of the face-plate A, it being understood that the beveled hook end of the said hook 0 passes with its upper end through an opening A in the face-plate A to engage the bolt D. The latter is spring-pressed and is adapted to be disengaged from the hook end 0 of the hook C by a release-key F, forming part of the lock E, and introduced inthe latter through a key-hole A formed in the face-plate A. The lugs B are turned outward from a strip or strips of metal B, secured to the rear side of the face-plate and extended through slots in said face-plate.

The hook O at its junction with the pivotplate E is extended laterally from the plate, thus providing shoulders which will contact with the straight lower edges of the lugs B, and thus form a stop for the hook 0, when the latter is released from the bolt D of the lock E, so that the hook O in swinging down by its own gravity after being released is limited in its downward motion, so as to stand transversely, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1. By this arrangement the key or other article hung on the hook C will be retained by the latter, whether the hook is in an open or closed position, and at the same time the key can be conveniently removed from the open hook or placed thereon whenever desired. It will further be seen that when the hook C is an open position and a key or other article is hung thereon, then the operator in order to securely lock the key in place on the face-plate A simply swings the hook 0 upward, to pass the hook end 0 through the opening A to engage the hook end with the spring-pressed bolt D. The hook is now securely locked in place and the key cannot be removed from the hook.

When it is desired to remove the key, the authorized person having charge of the release-key F inserts the latter in the keyhole A and presses the bolt D to release the curved hook 0, so that the latter by its own gravity swings downward into an open position. The key can now be removed from the hook. As shown in Fig. 2,two such hooks C are arranged on the same face-plate A with a single release-key F for operating both locks to lock or engage the two hooks. As illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 the face-plate A is provided with a single hook and a single lock to be operated by the release-key F.

It will be seen that by forming the keyhole in the front or face plate a keymay be inserted in the front, so that a large number of hooks for suspending keys may be placed closelytogether and readily unlocked, whereas were the key to be inserted in the side, as has been done with garment-hooks, the hooks could not be closely arranged. It will be further observed that in one example of. my improvement there is a single keyhole co1umon to two locking devices and hooks.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- Witnesses:

Roscon SANDERsoN, LOUIE D. .TEssUr. 

